Seaside County
by Skitty
Summary: A/B/S, the title's subject to change, but basically Buffy's a college professor, and she's being stalked. She calls her vampires for help.


AN: Okay, look. I saw a thing. James Marsters is gonna be on Angel's 5th season. That means somehow he's resurrected. Now I'm assuming here, that he's not gonna be a total bastard and not tell Buffy. SO, this is a future fic where he's not only alive, but in contact with Buffy. Deal with it. Also, Charisma Carpenter won't be returning so (YAY) neither will Cordelia. Again : Deal with it. Spoilers: all of Buffy, up to season four of Angel. Don't know if it's gonna actually SPOIL anything, but. hey.  
  
AN2: All my fic is A/B/S lately, unintentionally. Even my B/A stories that I haven't finished are ending up A/B/S. SO this is A/B/S, and I'm going to edit out the NC17 parts, but it might take awhile to do that so this fic might take longer to post on fanfiction.net.  
  
Story:  
  
"Dammit Clay!" the two men outside heard the angered shout and smirked. "Get your ass in here now!"  
  
"What'd I do now?" they crept up to the window of the English professor's kitchen. The sand from the private beach blew lightly, as the chilly Northern California winds blew against it and the tide rushed in. It was the perfect setting for her, really, not too hot for snow, or too cold for her southern California heritage. Plus, a beach meant sun.  
  
"Why did I volunteer to take students in?" she practically growled at the 20 something year old who came in the room. He just smirked at her, so she pointed to a pan. "I'm not washing that."  
  
"Sorry prof. I was just trying to get a head start on that paper. You know the one that counts for twenty percent of my grade that my OTHER teacher assigned. I do have more than one," he shot back. She playfully swatted at him.  
  
"I'm not even your teacher any more," she reminded him. "I can't be if you live here. You know the rules."  
  
"What would you do without us, Buff?" another student entered the room. "You'd be all pouty and lonesome."  
  
Buffy rolled her eyes at him. "You don't even live here Mike," she laughed. "You, I would consider charging rent."  
  
Mike looked at Clay. "She doesn't charge you rent?" Clay just smirked at him. "You get this great place and you don't pay rent? What are you sleeping with her?"  
  
Both the men outside growled at the off-handed comment; and the woman clearly heard it. "Wait here," she commanded, exiting through the kitchen door to stand in the cool night air, and turning her head to look directly into their eyes. "Angel, Spike," she greeted, her eyes laughing at them. "I take it you got my letter."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
She was happy. For the first time in. well all the time Spike'd known her actually, she was really truly completely happy. Her eyes shone, she'd gained enough weight so that she looked like a human and not a stick figure, and she dressed less conservatively, though not too provocatively either, her home was filled with beauty and laughter. This, he finally realized, was why Angel had left her. This was the world she belonged in, and Angel was holding her back from that, then. Spike had not been, he also realized, with some certainty.  
  
It had been her friends tying her to the darkness, as much as her vampire lovers. They held her back from happiness, pulling her into the night to save them again and again, when she should have been able to leave ages before she had. They'd done it in Sunnydale, during the short term in L.A. afterwards, from what he heard, he'd only been there for half of it, and then they'd dragged her to London to hold her down there. He'd never been more proud of her than when she'd written to say she was leaving their sides to travel Europe, and then settle down back in the states.  
  
Even he hated London, and he'd been born there. He never would become who he had without that city, or without her. But he never wanted them to cross paths again. It simply wasn't Buffy's element any more than Sunnydale or L.A. had been.  
  
"So." she muttered, once she'd made tea, broken a dish, poured the tea, added milk and more sugar than Spike himself used to hers, and served some crackers and cheese to them both.  
  
"So," Angel agreed, and she shared a look with him that enflamed the green monster that resided in Spike even now, when the real demon was fading away. "You wanna start?"  
  
"I guess that would make sense, since I told you guys to come all the way up here." she trailed off a little nervously and Spike squeezed her hand, not caring whether Angel got pissy about it or not.  
  
"Hey pet, it's us," he told her. "You can tell us anything. You know that."  
  
"Except, God forbid, if it has to do with the other one," she muttered under her breath. Both her companions caught it, and smirked. "Okay, here's the deal: I think someone's after me," at their duh looks, she expanded, "someone who's not usually after me. I keep seeing these guys, around campus, even outside this place. Everywhere. I was okay for awhile, but it's been a few months now, and I'm starting to get wigged."  
  
"Understandable," Angel said, and Spike thought for the millionth time how very much the king of the understatement he was. She was a single, 28½ year old female (four days past her half birthday - Gods, how did he know that?), who'd been nearly raped one too many times for comfort (me, I did that; I'm a bad, bad man). "More than damn understandable," he voiced his thoughts. "You should have called sooner." Angel glared at him, but he didn't care. This wasn't the Buffy that either of them had fallen for, she wasn't shrouded in darkness, but she wasn't blinded by light anymore either. She could take credit for her faults and for her abilities, now. She wasn't a masochist any longer. She was an adult, not ancient.  
  
If Spike could read that from her eyes, Angel should have gotten it sooner.  
  
"Cause, gee, getting stalked is so new for me," she observed pointedly. "Even my boyfriends have ever done that, oh, right, except for all of them," at least he could look chagrined at that.  
  
"Riley stalked you?" Angel asked, an eyebrow raised.  
  
"Riley stalked everyone," she snorted. "And don't get me started on Scott. I finally gave up and went out with him 'cause he was everywhere at once and it was driving me nuts."  
  
"Scott?"  
  
"Don't ask," both Buffy and Angel said at once, then smiled at each other in that way that made Spike want to gag again. "High school," she filled Spike in. "Decided the mystery wasn't as interesting as he thought and dumped me. Conveniently a very short while after Angel came back."  
  
"A lot shorter of a time than you let on," Angel teased. She stuck her tongue out at him, and Spike wanted nothing more than to catch that lovely pink tongue with his own, but that wasn't his right anymore. He'd just have to deal with the fact that Angel couldn't either.  
  
"What, you smelled him?" she shot back. "Of all the strange things you've said."  
  
"I was upset," he answered. "And this isn't helping with your demon problem."  
  
"That's the thing, I don't think they are," she corrected, "demons, I mean, a problem, definitely, but not a demonic one."  
  
"You're babbling," Angel noted. "What's wrong?"  
  
"I. I don't know if I should tell you," she admitted quietly.  
  
"Buffy." Spike started to warn her but Angel shook his head at him and squeezed her hand.  
  
"If you don't want to tell us, you don't have to, but if we're going to help you, we should know as much as you're comfortable sharing," he urged her, and she gave him a weak smile on the verge of tears. You never change, do you?" she sniffled. Then she sighed and sat up a little straighter. "About a year ago I got a letter from Sam, Riley's wife. She wanted to let me know they were getting a divorce, and ask. she wanted to know if he'd ever." Buffy breathed again, and Spike began to gather where she was headed. "She said he was hitting her, and she wanted to know if he'd ever been violent with me. So I told her the truth."  
  
"And that is?" Angel was practically growling, and though he no longer had one, I fully expected his game face to appear within moments.  
  
"He did. Not often, and it's not like he could actually hurt me, but. there were times. Particularly after the thing with Faith." she trailed off, and guilt flashed in Angel's eyes. "Not you Angel, just things in general. There was a lot of strain after. well after that. Anyway, she and I got to talking, and she said she found a pamphlet for the University in his things, with my name circled and highlighted, and another part on housing that mentioned me."  
  
"She thinks these guys in black are connected," Angel connected. Buffy nodded.  
  
"And I know they are. I got another warning a few days ago, and old friend of Riley's, Graham. He was in the Initiative with him."  
  
"The one that always hated you? Why would he be warning you now? I thought he'd wanna help," Spike commented.  
  
"That was Forest, and he probably would, but he's a little too dead to care right now," she corrected. "Adam remember? Graham always liked me. Or, at least I think he did. Anyway, Graham came by the house, and asked me if I'd heard from Riley. When I said I'd heard from Sam, he loosened up a lot and said that he thought something was wrong with Riley, and that he thought he might come after me."  
  
"So basically you want us to hit Riley," Spike grinned at her. "Not a problem."  
  
"I want to find out what's wrong with him. I want to try to fix it. But if it comes down to it, yes, I want you to hit Riley," Buffy smiled weakly back. "If you need a place to stay I have a room left, you'd have to share but."  
  
"That's fine," Angel assured her. "Spike can sleep on the floor."  
  
"Right," Spike agreed. "What? Hey!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So who're the hotties?" Karen Johnson shrugged into a seat beside her former English professor and current den mother. Despite her involvement with Clay, the senior had eyes. In fact, all of Buffy's male friends seemed to be gorgeous, but then, look at Buffy.  
  
"Actually they run a PI organization in L.A.," she answered. The two women were drying dishes together, after Clay and Mike ate and fled.  
  
"That all?" Karen teased lightly. Buffy was her mentor, and an amazingly good friend. When she'd found out she was pregnant, Buffy had supported her entirely, and after the baby was born she and Clay had moved into their former teacher's home. Their daughter, Marianne, loved Buffy to pieces, and the feeling was obviously mutual.  
  
"For now," Buffy smiled wickedly at her. "I sort of used to date them."  
  
"Both of them?" Karen rose an eyebrow. "At once?"  
  
Buffy flushed. Now that was an idea, though unfortunately not the truth. If it had been I wouldn't have let them get away so easily, she thought. Either one of them. "No," she answered, somewhat wistfully. "I was with Angel for a long time, and then after he left I was with Spike for awhile. And now they work together."  
  
Karen gave her a knowing smile, understanding perfectly what the flush had meant. There were times where she'd envisioned Clay and Mike together, if she was being completely honest with herself. Not that she wanted to be with Mike, but he was gorgeous. "Okay, here's a question: if you could, which one would you take back?"  
  
Buffy paused in her scrubbing, nearly dropping the bowl she held. Which one? When they'd been together, Spike was hardly her ideal boyfriend. The violence had been what she needed at the time, but it wasn't really a safe foundation for a relationship. But post-soul, though the one time she'd told him he'd denied its truth, she had fallen for him. He was so sweet, so unbelievably head over heels for her it was hard not to love him. Even still, they kept in touch, and he made it all to clear he still loved her. And in all honesty, she still loved him.  
  
But Angel. Angel was Angel. There was simply no other way to explain it. She loved him with all her heart, forever. He was her first lover; he was the first person to really break down the walls to her heart, the last person until Spike. And he had an amazing sex appeal.  
  
She loved them both. She wanted them both. And apparently she'd said that aloud, because Karen was smirking at her.  
  
"Figures you'd want the two hottest guys in Seaside all to yourself," she teased.  
  
"They won't be staying in Seashore," Buffy said wistfully. "They'll probably be gone before the rest of my students."  
  
"Somehow I doubt that," Karen smiled at her. "Go entertain your boyfriends. I'll finish up here. Worse comes to worse I can guilt Gina into helping."  
  
Buffy smiled. Gina was Karen's best friend, another of her live-in former students. Due to school rules, teachers who volunteered to house students (there were no dorms as of yet for Seaside University) weren't allowed to take in current students, or students who planned to eventually take their courses. Since her class was well known and loved, she lived only with her former students, 12 of them, because almost every student planned to take her course.  
  
She had to admit, she loved Seaside. The town was the perfect atmosphere for writers, and with the money she'd made as an author and the money she'd inherited from her father, she could easily afford her large home, and was paving Dawn's way through grad school too. The house was perfect.  
  
And she had an awesome job. Though it was only three years old, and the construction wasn't entirely finished, SU was quickly becoming well-known for its unique literature courses, and the authors it put out and who taught there. Buffy's first novel, surprisingly not science 'fiction' or horror but an ordinary love story, and her volume of short stories she'd written in high school had won her a large sense of prestige, which has secured her position as the youngest professor in the school.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Buffy slipped from the communal kitchen at Karen's request and headed for her suite of rooms, which took up half of both the first and second floors. Parts of it had been the servants' quarters, and parts were the original master suites. The stairs connecting the second floor to her apartments led to the master bedroom, bathroom, library and study, all private. On the first floor were her kitchen and her guest room, where Spike and Angel would be staying. For now though, they waited for her in her library.  
  
"Hey," she smiled on entering the room. They sat at opposite ends of her couch, observing the voluminous collection of both ancient and modern literature and demonology. She noticed Spike's particular confusion over one collection of journals, Watcher's journals, in essence, that she kept for herself, now that she'd separated from the Council, Giles and her friends. In them she'd catalogued every demon she faced, describing weaknesses, and ways of dispatching them, as well as which breeds were harmless and friendly.  
  
"Just 'cause Seaside's small doesn't mean it's demon free," she informed him. "The college is just starting out, but it's well known already. I'm here to protect it and to teach in it."  
  
Spike put the volume he'd been reading, one with rather detailed entries about both him and Angel. "Harmony was not my worst decision ever," he insisted. Buffy smirked at him. "My worst decision was getting drunk and trying to rape you."  
  
Angel growled angrily and practically lunged at him. Buffy jumped in between. "Hey, old issues, dealt with long ago," she assured Angel urgently. "Relax, 'kay?"  
  
Spike smirked over her shoulder, and Angel growled again. Buffy slammed her foot down on his toes. He howled and Angel smirked at him. "You two are children," she teased affectionately. Spike deliberately bent to kiss her cheek, which made Angel capture her lips and Buffy sighed.  
  
How was it that she was lucky enough to have the friendship of the only two men in her life that she'd ever trusted completely? Her two greatest enemies, and her two greatest loves, wrapped up into two little. okay large men who fought over her so constantly it had become a game.  
  
"Behave," she scolded. "We've got work to do." Angel's eyes turned serious and he checked over Buffy for non-existent injuries. "I told you," she rolled her eyes, "they're not hurting me, just watching. For now."  
  
"It's only a matter of time," Spike answered quietly. "I don't suppose we can convince you to stay home more?"  
  
"Are you kidding?! Finals start in three weeks. I have to administer them. Barring hospitalization I'm there," Buffy glared at them. Clearly, they'd been planning her life without her, again. "And it takes death to get me in a hospital, you both know that."  
  
"Look pet, we're worried," Spike sighed. "I've met these soldier types, remember? They got me and they bloody well nearly got Angel too. With enough men behind them."  
  
"Riley wouldn't come all this way to kill me," Buffy interjected. "There has to be something else. I don't even know why I asked you guys to come except. I don't want to be alone when I find out why."  
  
"That's entirely understandable," Angel assured her, touching her arm. "And we are, for as long as you need us."  
  
"However you need us," Spike added with a wink. "Well I am, anyway."  
  
Buffy laughed, and the happy mood she'd found upon entering returned. "I missed you two," she smiled up at them.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ 


End file.
